kloan
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2004
- Posts
- 1,166
- Likes
- 13
Omg, this is ridiculously difficult to compare these two.
On the one hand, I'm listening to the Triple.Fi and the transparency is delicious. The treble has a tendency to be just a bit to crisp for my taste in certain songs, but sounds phenomenal in others. This is listening to Sia.
I'm listening to the bass impact and frequency range, and I'm very pleased. It delivers a full and satisfying experience. Great sound stage and instrument separation. Vocals are life-like and very clear.
Then I put the IE8s in to compare and I'm instantly seduced by the bass. There's just so much of it, my ears are drinking it up. Only slightly heavy in the mid bass, but not enough that I want to punch an old lady. But then after listening to a few tracks, the sound starts to get on my nerves. It sounds busy, congested, muffled and unpleasant. So I try another album, an Armin Van Buren progressive trance track. Nope, still bothering me. Where it sounded brilliant one minute, it now irritates the hell outta me.
So I put the Triple.Fi's back in my ears and try another tune. Bass is there, but not as powerful. Still hard hitting and enjoyable. The clarity is again very nice, but now the treble is a little too bright, sharp and unpleasant.
Artist change. Amon Tobin, Foley Room. First track, gets into it and huge impact. Nice wide soundstage, huge pressence. Treble just a tad bit sharp for my ears... trying to ignore it. The sound is so clear, I just wish treble was like 5% less.
Let's try the IE8s with this track. Again, enormous bass. Thick and heavy. Treble seems better, clearer with this music. Mids only very slightly recessed, barely noticeable. Let's try another artist.
Band of Horses - Wicked Gil. Vocals first thing I notice. Sharp, clear but just a little bit further away than I'd like. Drums and bass are first and foremost. Mids are more forward as well. K, let's try the Triple.Fi's.
Drums, bassline.. more separated. But overall this is sounding thinner. The vocals are painful. Way too bright. Trebles are piercing, this isn't enjoyable at all. Track change.
Trying something a little different. Caribou - After Hours. This is better. Trebles aren't as bright.. a little more tolerable, though almost too much. Nice and airy sound.. very transparent and energetic. Time to try the IE8s with this song.
Ahhhh... my ears have a chance to relax. Treble softer. Big, thick bass. This is sounding more pleasant. Vocals are a little muffled, but not bad. Just wish that bit of mid bass was a little less forward..it's definitely the culprit... bmm bmmm bmmm bmmmm bmmmm bmmmm bmmmm bmmm.....
Ok, gonna try another artist. Muse - City of Delusion. Buhhhhhhh.... bloaty bass... bleeding into the other frequencies. Vocals are recessed... mids are obnoxious.. can't take anymore of this... let's compare to the Triple.Fi's.
First note, less bass. Mid bass not blowing everything out of my ears. Guitars are clearer. Vocals more forward and clear. Way better instrument seperation. Trumpet sounds great. This is very energetic and enjoyable. Very CD sounding. This recording sounds like it was engineered to be mid-centric, so can't blame either 'phone for having too forward mids. But these handle it slightly better and I could listen to this track all the way through.
Let's try these guys... The Presets - A New Sky (sorry for the music selection... my HDD with 50GB of music is still dead). Ok, so... great bass impact. Tight and reasonably deep. High hat and 'snare' (not a real snare, it's electronic) is too sharp, too bright. Vocals are too trebly. This is hurting my ears. How will the IE8s handle this song?
BOOM. Bass just kicked the **** out of my head. Drums sound way better. 'Snare' and high hat are normal.. sound as they should. Vocals a little far away, but easier on the ears. This is a good match. These play this song perfectly fine. Very big sound. But I'm starting to get quite tired of listening to them, despite the good sound. What's next on the playlist?
Nope... nothing sounds good now. I have to take these out of my ears, starting to feel sick to my stomache.
Ugh, I can't take anymore A/B'ing... it's too much.
So, which do you think sounds better? I HAVE NO IDEA. It seems they each have their good qualities and they're not so good qualities.
The IE8s have enormous bass. The sub bass reaches deep (almost deep enough for my tastes, I LOVE sub bass). The midbass is overwhelming and tends to colour the other frequencies. The mids tend to be in the lower range, and the highs are slightly rolled off at times. Very high frequencies are faint but noticeable, but treble seems anemic at times.
The Triple.Fis are clearly more transparent. Sound stage is almost identical, though doesn't reach out and behind like the IE8s, more just wide and outward. The airiness and instrument separation is very enjoyable. The mids and highs tend to be overwhelming on many tracks and seem to limit the amount of music I can listen to from my unfortunately small collection.
I honestly have no idea which ones I like better. If I had to choose one to save my life, I'd pick the Triple.Fis and hope I can maybe find an amp to tone them down... maybe the iBasso T4?
I tried both of them with the NuForce Icon Mobile. The amp gave each of them slightly less bass, slightly more mids, and barely discernible difference in highs. Very subtle changes, and not enough to talk about in more detail.
It's a shame I don't have the Westone 3 here with me to compare with these. It seems that's the last one I've yet to try.
Does the search continue? Dunno.... but I am still going to sell the IE8s. I'll hang onto the Triple.Fi's for a little while longer and see if I can come up with a way to tame the brightness with another amp.
Anyway, that's my obviously inexperienced review. Hope it hasn't confused you as much as it did me.
On the one hand, I'm listening to the Triple.Fi and the transparency is delicious. The treble has a tendency to be just a bit to crisp for my taste in certain songs, but sounds phenomenal in others. This is listening to Sia.
I'm listening to the bass impact and frequency range, and I'm very pleased. It delivers a full and satisfying experience. Great sound stage and instrument separation. Vocals are life-like and very clear.
Then I put the IE8s in to compare and I'm instantly seduced by the bass. There's just so much of it, my ears are drinking it up. Only slightly heavy in the mid bass, but not enough that I want to punch an old lady. But then after listening to a few tracks, the sound starts to get on my nerves. It sounds busy, congested, muffled and unpleasant. So I try another album, an Armin Van Buren progressive trance track. Nope, still bothering me. Where it sounded brilliant one minute, it now irritates the hell outta me.
So I put the Triple.Fi's back in my ears and try another tune. Bass is there, but not as powerful. Still hard hitting and enjoyable. The clarity is again very nice, but now the treble is a little too bright, sharp and unpleasant.
Artist change. Amon Tobin, Foley Room. First track, gets into it and huge impact. Nice wide soundstage, huge pressence. Treble just a tad bit sharp for my ears... trying to ignore it. The sound is so clear, I just wish treble was like 5% less.
Let's try the IE8s with this track. Again, enormous bass. Thick and heavy. Treble seems better, clearer with this music. Mids only very slightly recessed, barely noticeable. Let's try another artist.
Band of Horses - Wicked Gil. Vocals first thing I notice. Sharp, clear but just a little bit further away than I'd like. Drums and bass are first and foremost. Mids are more forward as well. K, let's try the Triple.Fi's.
Drums, bassline.. more separated. But overall this is sounding thinner. The vocals are painful. Way too bright. Trebles are piercing, this isn't enjoyable at all. Track change.
Trying something a little different. Caribou - After Hours. This is better. Trebles aren't as bright.. a little more tolerable, though almost too much. Nice and airy sound.. very transparent and energetic. Time to try the IE8s with this song.
Ahhhh... my ears have a chance to relax. Treble softer. Big, thick bass. This is sounding more pleasant. Vocals are a little muffled, but not bad. Just wish that bit of mid bass was a little less forward..it's definitely the culprit... bmm bmmm bmmm bmmmm bmmmm bmmmm bmmmm bmmm.....
Ok, gonna try another artist. Muse - City of Delusion. Buhhhhhhh.... bloaty bass... bleeding into the other frequencies. Vocals are recessed... mids are obnoxious.. can't take anymore of this... let's compare to the Triple.Fi's.
First note, less bass. Mid bass not blowing everything out of my ears. Guitars are clearer. Vocals more forward and clear. Way better instrument seperation. Trumpet sounds great. This is very energetic and enjoyable. Very CD sounding. This recording sounds like it was engineered to be mid-centric, so can't blame either 'phone for having too forward mids. But these handle it slightly better and I could listen to this track all the way through.
Let's try these guys... The Presets - A New Sky (sorry for the music selection... my HDD with 50GB of music is still dead). Ok, so... great bass impact. Tight and reasonably deep. High hat and 'snare' (not a real snare, it's electronic) is too sharp, too bright. Vocals are too trebly. This is hurting my ears. How will the IE8s handle this song?
BOOM. Bass just kicked the **** out of my head. Drums sound way better. 'Snare' and high hat are normal.. sound as they should. Vocals a little far away, but easier on the ears. This is a good match. These play this song perfectly fine. Very big sound. But I'm starting to get quite tired of listening to them, despite the good sound. What's next on the playlist?
Nope... nothing sounds good now. I have to take these out of my ears, starting to feel sick to my stomache.
Ugh, I can't take anymore A/B'ing... it's too much.
So, which do you think sounds better? I HAVE NO IDEA. It seems they each have their good qualities and they're not so good qualities.
The IE8s have enormous bass. The sub bass reaches deep (almost deep enough for my tastes, I LOVE sub bass). The midbass is overwhelming and tends to colour the other frequencies. The mids tend to be in the lower range, and the highs are slightly rolled off at times. Very high frequencies are faint but noticeable, but treble seems anemic at times.
The Triple.Fis are clearly more transparent. Sound stage is almost identical, though doesn't reach out and behind like the IE8s, more just wide and outward. The airiness and instrument separation is very enjoyable. The mids and highs tend to be overwhelming on many tracks and seem to limit the amount of music I can listen to from my unfortunately small collection.
I honestly have no idea which ones I like better. If I had to choose one to save my life, I'd pick the Triple.Fis and hope I can maybe find an amp to tone them down... maybe the iBasso T4?
I tried both of them with the NuForce Icon Mobile. The amp gave each of them slightly less bass, slightly more mids, and barely discernible difference in highs. Very subtle changes, and not enough to talk about in more detail.
It's a shame I don't have the Westone 3 here with me to compare with these. It seems that's the last one I've yet to try.
Does the search continue? Dunno.... but I am still going to sell the IE8s. I'll hang onto the Triple.Fi's for a little while longer and see if I can come up with a way to tame the brightness with another amp.
Anyway, that's my obviously inexperienced review. Hope it hasn't confused you as much as it did me.
